


Meadow Memories

by Anonymous



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22708309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "Father, why do you do that?"
Relationships: Wrathion/Anduin Wrynn
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48
Collections: Anonymous





	Meadow Memories

“Wrathion!”’

A jubilant call rings through Stormwind’s gardens, light as a sunbeam and merry as a lark. The pitter-patter of tiny feet and laughter echo as several blurs of gold and blue dash over grass and stone, repeating their cry.

“Wrathion!”

A massive crimson eye opens, blinking blearily as the call became louder and louder. With a tired, muffled groan an onyx head lifts itself from the grass it had laid upon, reaching higher and higher into the air as it peered sleepily out over the gardens. Weathered scales clicked together as an enormous tail slides across the ground. Dusty, weather-beaten wings stretch upwards over the tips of the trees lining the broad clearing. Light shone through the small holes in the rotting flesh before they were lowered and tucked against a massive, ancient back.

“Wrathion!”

The dragon turns his head as three small figures cartwheel into view, laughing and scrambling through the grass that sways gently in the afternoon breeze. Three heads of golden hair wink in the sunlight as a trio of children weave through the rustling meadow and immediately stop short of his claws. Wrathion lowers his head slowly, the wispy hairs atop his chin trailing on the ground as he peers at the group grinning up at him.

Two twin boys, clad in Stormwind’s colors and with identical cheeky grins hold hands with a smaller girl giggling between them. Her blonde, wavy hair billowed in the wind with the short, white dress whose hem whips about her ankles. The children’s smiles widen as they throw their arms up and laugh in unison. “Wrathion!” they cheer, darting forward to wrap their arms around the dragon’s massive snout.

After a long pause, the dragon smiles back as his eyes glimmer with happiness. Slowly, Wrathion lifts his head up amidst the delighted shrieks of the children clinging to his nose. He tilts his head and arches his neck as he feels two small bodies tumble past his spines and roll down his neck with cries of delight. The third, however, he can feel clasped around his right horn as he rolls his eye up as two bare feet dangle into view.

“Aerin, stop being scared! Come down!” The authoritative, teasing tones of the boys carries through the meadow. Wrathion blinks slowly as he feels their bodies roll down his wings and land into the rustling grass.

“I’m not scared!” The girl’s voice is equally haughty with a familiar petulance that stirs something in the dragon he cannot place. “I just want to hear Wrathion’s stories better! It’s louder up here and I can see farther than you!”

“You’re a liar!” one of the boys calls, cupping his hands over his mouth.

“Leave her alone, Falruin,” the other sighs.

“You leave her alone,” Falruin snaps.

“Stop fighting!” the girl hollers down, wrapping her legs tightly around Wrathion’s horn. “I want to hear a story!”

“Then you better ask him!” the second boy yells back.

“Wrathion?” The dragon blinks again as the girl’s voice becomes soft and sweet. “Will you tell us a story today?”

The dragon pauses for a few moments as the children fall silent, awaiting his answer in the quiet of the meadow. Slowly, Wrathion lowers his head and slumps back to the ground, resting his chin amongst the rustling grass as the boys scamper up to the side of his head. He blinks wearily as they peer at him expectantly, the girl’s hand stroking the base of his horn coaxingly.

“Very well,” he murmurs finally. His voice is deep and raspy, as if he was pulling each word from an ancient, forgotten well. “What tale do you desire today?”

“Adventure!” Falruin says immediately.

“Love,” the other chimes in.

“Ugh, you would want love Kalarian,” Falruin says with distaste.

“I like those stories,” Kalarian says defensively, folding his arms across his chest.

“You just like them cause you’ve got a girlfriend.”

“I do not!” The two boys begin shoving each other back and forth before Wrathion lets out a low, displeased grumble. The two instantly still.

Wrathion directs his gaze upwards as best he can to the little girl clinging to his horn. “And you?” he rasps.

“I want something with a good ending,” Aerin says with a smile. “Something where you’re both happy at the end.”

“Very well,” Wrathion breathes, letting his eyes slip shut. The two boys settle down into the grass beside him and lean against his cheek.

“I suppose I have one,” Wrathion begins, a small smile curling on his lips. “One set in the icy fields of Northrend. We were hunting, you see, down in the crystal caverns below the surface of Dragonblight.”

“I want to go to Northrend!” Falruin interrupts excitedly. “They say everything’s huge and mean and only the best survive!” The boy falls silent as Wrathion creaks open a lid to fix the boy with a weighty stare.

“Yes,” Wrathion says finally. “The beasts there grow large.” The dragon shifts and closes his eyes once more as he resumes his story. “The creatures we feared beneath the snow were of such a type – enormous, furred worms with acidic breath that could melt stone in the blink of an eye. Even the giants of ice that had dwelled in the caverns for millennia feared these monstrosities.”

“We did not wish to be detected, and though I was stunning and intimidating,” Wrathion breathes with a smirk, “I was too noticeable in my drake form. So we crawled through the tunnels on foot with lights and furs wrapped around our forms.”

“Was it scary?” Aerin says quietly.

“At the time. Anduin was cautious, as was I. Dragon or not, I cannot defend well against such fierce acid as anything but a shield, and this was not an appealing option either. But, we had to go in just the same. Something very dear to my prince lay within that he could not tell his people of, and I would not let him go alone.”

“Why?” Kalarian asks with a hesitant pause. “Everyone says he was an admirable fighter in his young age.”

“Anduin was never a fighter, but he could hold his own,” Wrathion muses. “At the time, I told him I was coming because he was a blundering idiot that would trip over his own two feet and fall to his death a minute into the cavern without me.” The children giggle as Wrathion smiles to himself. “But, it was because I was worried.”

“So what happened with the worms?” Falruin asks eagerly.

“We reached quite far in without detection, actually. Our stealth skills were admirable, considering the sensitivity of the worms. But, eventually, one found us. And one was all it took. The beast burst through the icy walls!” Wrathion reached out a claw, digging it deep into the meadow. “It spat!” He puffs up his cheeks and blows a stream of flame into the air amidst a chorus of delighted cheers. “But we were too quick for it! The thing about icy walls, you can see an enemy coming.” Wrathion creaks open an eyelid and winks. “I spat my own fire at it as Anduin shielded us from its sweeping tail. But once set aflame, the beast thrashed!” Wrathion’s tail thumps loudly against the ground. “It threw itself side to side, berserk with pain! And though it did not strike us, it did something quite nasty indeed.”

“What?” Aerin whispered breathlessly.

“It broke the cavern floor. Ice splintered at our feet as jagged cracks rose from the ground – we were sent tumbling, tumbling down as the beast bellowed above. Anduin shielded us as best he could, slowing our fall as ice plummeted around us. After a brief spell, we landed at the bottom of a narrow passageway and became trapped as the collapsing cavern above sealed the only exit we had – up.”

“What did you do? Burn it?” Kalarian inquires, small hand stroking the side of Wrathion’s cheek.

“My first thought, but it was too dangerous to attempt. The space was too tight for my dragon form to do anything but crush my prince, and the flame would have surely seared him. We sat there for what felt like ages, mulling over what to do. Well, mostly shouting back and forth, but it was something to do.” Wrathion chuckles to himself and yawns.

“Well, as a dragon, I’m quite fine with the cold as the fire in my belly keeps me warm. Anduin was not as lucky. He shivered fiercely as we lay there, lips and nose turning darker and darker as the minutes ticked past. So, I did the only sensible thing I could do.”

“What?” Aerin leans over the side of Wrathion’s horn, hair tickling the top of his eyelid. Wrathion smirks.

“I held him close and kissed him until his whole face was redder than a cherry.”

“Arrrrrgh,” Falruin groans as his siblings giggle to themselves.

“Did you do more than kiss him?” Aerin asks slyly.

“And that!” A powerful voice suddenly rings out through the clearing, lifting the heads of children and dragon alike. “Is where the story ends today, my dears.” Wrathion’s eyes glimmer as a man in robes strides across the meadow, gold and silver beard winking in the fading evening light as a wrinkled brow crinkles with mirth.

“Daddy!” the three children exclaim in unison. Falruin and Kalarian race towards their father as Aerin hurriedly detaches herself from Wrathion’s horn, face-planting into the grass before scrambling to her knees and racing after her brothers.

“Anduin,” Wrathion murmurs.

“Hello, you three. Bothering Wrathion again, I see?” The man chuckles to himself as the children immediately attach themselves to his cape.

“He told us about worms and caves and ice battles!” Falruin says proudly.

“And kissing,” Aerin adds.

“Yes, I heard the last bit.” The man raises his eyes to Wrathion’s and smiles fondly. “Hello, old friend. Spoiling the children, are we?”

“Only a little,” Wrathion grunts, craning his neck towards the group before him. A wizened palm gently caresses his snout as the two gaze at each other with twin secret smiles.

“You look so old. Why must you age so quickly?”

“I’m trying to match you. You call that a beard?” Wrathion lifts a claw and prods the wispy hair protruding from his massive chin. “This is a beard.”

The two laugh openly as a surge of affection shoots through the dragon. He nuzzles the palm fiercely for a moment before pulling away. “I’m glad to see you today. I’ve had terrible dreams of late.”

“Do you want me to send for anything? Herbs, perhaps?” Blue eyes affix themselves upon Wrathion’s tired face, shining with worry.

Wrathion shakes his massive head. “Seeing you is enough,” he murmurs, lowering himself back into the grass. “Thank you, Anduin.”

“Of course. Any time you wish to see me, you have only to yell.” A smile crinkles his beloved’s face. “I’m quite certain all of Stormwind will hear you, myself included.”

Wrathion chuckles as the children tug impatiently on their father’s robes. “I will remember. I think you’d best see to your little ones. The time seems right for a meal, no?”

“It is. I’ll have your dinner sent here promptly. Are you sure you don’t wish for anything else?”

Wrathion sighs and slowly rolls onto his side, gazing up at the sky. “No,” he murmurs. “This is enough.”

“Father, can we come back tomorrow?” Falruin asks, glancing up at the resting dragon.

“I think so, after your lessons. But for now, to your mother my dears. She’s been looking for you.” Falruin and Kalarian smile, grasping their father’s hand tightly as he begins to lead them away.

“Goodbye, Wrathion!” Aerin calls out, turning about to wave. “See you soon!”

Wrathion creaks open an eyelid, watching the retreating backs of gold and blue with a fond smile and a warmth creeping through his chest. “Anduin,” he exhales as his eyes slip shut once more.

——————–

“Father?”

“Hm?”

Kalarian gazes up at his father, hand tightening as they walk the streets of Stormwind. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Let him call you Anduin.”

King Bolvar Wrynn smiles sadly down at his son, pausing in the road as he suddenly bends knee and opens his arms. “Come here.”

Kalarian obeys, climbing into his father’s arms as the man lifts him up and sets him upon broad, powerful shoulders.

“Sometimes,” Bolvar begins, “You love someone so much, that when they’re gone, you see them everywhere.”

“I know,” Kalarian says quietly.

“He means, why don’t you tell him the truth?” Falruin interjects, grasp tight on his father’s cloak. “I think it’s cruel,” he mutters, looking away.

“It’s not cruel!” Aerin protests, skipping at her father’s side. “Wrathion’s sad all the time! He’s only happy when he’s telling stories or sees Father! I think it’s nice he can be glad for a bit.”

“But Father’s lying to him!” Falruin argues back. “He’ll be really mad when he finds out the truth!”

“He knows,” Bolvar says calmly.

“He does?” his children ask in unison.

“He does,” Bolvar repeats. “He has known since my father was first laid to rest. He is just hurting very badly.” Bolvar rolls his shoulders, adjusting the son that now rode them. “Wrathion has guarded our gates since before I was born. He is our family’s oldest friend and you will all treat him with respect and love.”

“We do,” Aerin says swiftly.

“I know you do, my darling.” Bolvar bends low to kiss her forehead before resuming his walk. “And he loves you back, even when he can’t remember who you are.”

“I hate those days,” Falruin says quietly.

“Do not hate. Feel sorrow as you please, but do not hate. He loves us all very much, and I do not mind letting him believe what brings him joy.”

“Do you think he’ll ever see Grandpa again?” Aerin asks softly, gazing up at her father. “I mean, not you, but-”

“Yes. I think he will.” Bolvar smiles and raises his eyes to the sky. “I think my father is watching over him even now, patiently waiting for the day Wrathion joins him in the heavens.”

“It’s scary,” Kalarian murmurs into his father’s hair. “To think about loving someone so much it tears you up.”

“Well,” Bolvar sighs, reaching up to stroke his son’s back. “Love can be scary. Even to me! But you know what else I think?” Bolvar pauses before the great gate of Stormwind Keep and lifts Kalarian from his shoulders. He sets him down, ushering Aerin and Falruin close as his hands clap on his sons’ shoulders. The three look up at him in wonder as he gazes steadily at them before a broad smile breaks across his face.

“I also think it’s the most wonderful thing in the world.”


End file.
